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COMMUNICATIONS AND MESSAGING STRATEGIES TO
ENCOURAGE AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN TO
PRACTICE SAFER SEX/HIV PREVENTION MEASURES
by
Miya A. Walker
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)
May 2012
Copyright 2012 Miya A. Walker

On June 5, 1981, the first cases of AIDS were reported in the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention‘s Morbidity and Mortality Report . Today, approximately 50,000 Americans become infected with HIV annually, and 16,000 people with AIDS died in 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a result, nearly 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV, and that number continues to grow. While HIV/AIDS has been a national epidemic, African Americans carry the largest burden of the disease. ❧ The new face of HIV/AIDS has shifted from gay white males in the 1980’s to African Americans in the new Millennium. Looking at the current state of affairs, black women are particularly at higher risk with astounding HIV infection rates. A careful examination of the factors, including psychological, societal, economical and behavioral, that contribute to the increase of HIV infection rates among black women is the subject of this research. Along with the findings, the author provides recommendations on how strategic communications can be used to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS among black women.

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COMMUNICATIONS AND MESSAGING STRATEGIES TO
ENCOURAGE AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN TO
PRACTICE SAFER SEX/HIV PREVENTION MEASURES
by
Miya A. Walker
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)
May 2012
Copyright 2012 Miya A. Walker